Similar petition drives also
were set to launch Saturday in Ann Arbor and Detroit. The Board of Canvassers approved
the petition language Tuesday and Raise Michigan, a coalition of groups
including Michigan United, has until May 28 to collect 258,000 validated
signatures.

Scarlet Davis, 20, was a
member of the core group of organizers with Michigan United in Kalamazoo. The biochemistry major at
Western Michigan University said that in the past, she's scrambled to make ends meet on $7.40
an hour, working 45 hours per week at two part-time jobs.

"I know what it's like to
work two minimum wage jobs and struggle," she said. "It was temporary for me. I
saw families for whom it wasn't."

The minimum wage debate has
taken center stage in both the state and the nation in recent weeks, with
supporters and opponents arguing over the potential economic impact of a raise.

A report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office found that increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would lift
900,000 people nationwide out of poverty and increase overall real income by $2
billion. The report also estimated that the increase would reduce employment by about
500,000 workers in the second half of 2016.

"Raising the minimum wage
is always somewhat of a balancing act," said Congressman Fred Upton, R-St.
Joseph, in an email, citing the CBO report. "Many of us started on a minimum
wage job. No one has suggested that one can raise a family on a minimum-wage
salary. You can't. Michigan voters decided a number of years ago to raise the
minimum wage above the national level and the news this week tells us the issue
is likely to again be on the November ballot.

"I have voted in the past to
raise the minimum wage and the U.S. Senate begins consideration of such a
measure next week. We all want our economy to get better and have more job
opportunities for all," he said. "At the end of the day, Michigan voters are
likely to make the final decision as we in the House wait and see if the Senate
can pass a bill in the next two weeks."

Michigan last increased its minimum wage to $7.40 per hour in 2008. The
state is one of 21 whose minimum wage is above the federal level of $7.25 per
hour. The ballot proposal also would raise the wage for tipped employees, which was last increased 22 years ago. That wage, currently $2.65 an hour,
would increase 85 cents per year until it reaches parity with the regular
minimum wage.

Supporters said a
minimum-wage hike will boost the economy by putting more money in the pockets
of low-income workers, who are most likely to spend it right away.

"We're trying to put money
in the pockets of people who make the least," said Randy Iuliano, a retired American Axle worker, on Saturday.

He and other volunteers Saturday cited a January letter from the Economic Policy Institute in favor of raising the minimum wage. It was signed by 600 economists, including seven Nobel Laureates, and stated that the “weight of evidence” shows that “increases in the
minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of
minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor
market.”

Opponents, including the
Michigan Restaurant Association, argue that the raise would result in fewer jobs. The MRA
has said the increase in the wages of tipped workers would force some
restaurants to close.

Right now, a person working
40 hours a week at minimum wage makes $15,392 a year. The federal government's 2014 poverty guidelines are set at $11,670 for a single person, $15,730 for a couple
and $23,850 for a family of four.

"We believe that if people
are working full-time, they should be able to take care of their families and
not be trapped by poverty," said Meredith Loomis Quinlan, a housing and
economic justice organizer with Michigan United.

Loomis Quinlan said that, in
the past, lawmakers have voted to increase the minimum wage every few years as
the cost of living increased.

"This shouldn't have to be a
political battle," she said.

If the ballot proposal
passes, "almost 1 million minimum wage workers in Michigan will get a raise," said Brenda
Hahn Saturday. "They haven't had a raise since 2008."

Yvonne Zipp is a staff writer at the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at yzipp@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.